Arizona’s Trick Play Turns Into Quite a Treat for Washington

The way Washington’s offense was rolling, it didn’t need a lot of defense.

The No. 10 Huskies got what they needed from Jermaine Smith, who turned a trick play into an Arizona disaster when he returned an interception 91 yards for a touchdown to cement a 58-28 victory Saturday at Tucson, Arizona.

Washington, (5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Pacific 10 also had an 89-yard return of the opening kickoff by freshman Ja’Warren Hooker on his first touch of the ball as a Husky. That set the stage for the explosive play of Brock Huard and Rashaan Shehee.

Huard passed for three touchdowns, Shehee ran for two, including a 62-yard breakaway in the third quarter, Maurice Shaw scored on a six-yard run and Nick Lentz kicked a 26-yard field goal.

Arizona’s Ortege Jenkins threw for 348 yards and completed the Wildcats scoring with a 32-yard pass to Rodney Williams with 14:02 to play, and Kelvin Eafon, subbing for injured team rushing leader Trung Canidate, had 136 yards in 15 carries and scored on runs of 11, six and four yards.

But the Huskies opened leads of 34-7 and 48-14 while seeming to score at will. Washington scored the most points in its 14-game series with the Wildcats (3-4, 1-3). Its widest victory margin came during a 54-0 rout in 1990.

Huard’s scoring passes covered 39 yards to Fred Coleman, 6 yards to Jerome Pathon and 3 yards to Jeremy Brigham in the first half, but the gamebreaker was Smith’s interception return off a trick play to send the Huskies ahead 34-7 with 8:49 left in the second quarter.

Jenkins handed off to Keith Smith, who started the first four games at quarterback before hurting his shoulder, and looped left on a pass pattern.

Jermaine Smith stepped in front of Jenkins, took the ball away and ran along the sideline on the second-longest interception return in Washington history, second only to Al Burleson’s 93-yard return against Washington State in 1975.

The Wildcats scored again on Eafon’s 6-yard run, but the Huskies went 48 yards in 50 seconds late in the half, getting half the distance on a 24-yard reception by Coleman, to open a 41-14 lead and eliminate whatever suspense was left.

ARIZONA STATE 31, NO. 25 STANFORD 14

Jeff Paulk had a pair of 2-yard scoring runs and the Arizona State defense forced five turnovers as the Sun Devils won at Stanford.

Marlon Farlow added a 60-yard scoring run and Mike Martin had a 7-yard touchdown run for the Sun Devils (5-2, 3-1).

Anthony Bookman had a 70-yard scoring run and Mike Mitchell had a two-yard touchdown run for the Cardinal (4-3, 2-2), but the Stanford running attack was shut down for the second straight week.

Stanford was held to 114 yards i 32 carries. The Cardinal, which averaged 239 yards rushing in their first five games, were held to 11 yards rushing last weekend at Arizona.

Farlow had 129 yards on 13 carries and Martin added 124 yards in 23 rushes for Arizona State, which has won five of its last six against Stanford. The Sun Devils have won nine of their last 10 road games overall.

The win was the 37th for coach Bruce Snyder at Arizona State, tying him with Darryl Rogers for second place on the school’s list.

Arizona State linebacker Pat Tillman, who went to high school a few miles from Stanford in San Jose, forced one of Stanford’s three lost fumbles and had one of the Sun Devils’ two interceptions.

Arizona State quarterback Ryan Kealy was 14-of-36 for 195 yards with one interception.

Stanford quarterback Chad Hutchinson went 20-of-35 for 214 yards with two interceptions. Hutchinson had not thrown an interception in the three previous games.

Arizona State opened the scoring on Martin’s touchdown run with 3:44 gone in the first quarter, and the Sun Devils dominated the first 15 minutes--holding Stanford to 21 total yards, including minus-17 yards rushing. The Sun Devils have held six of its seven opponents scoreless in the first quarter this season.

Tillman stripped Bookman midway through the second quarter and the Sun Devils recovered the fumble, starting a 74-yard drive that culminated with Paulk’s first scoring run.

A diving interception by Tillman led to Robert Nycz’s 46-yard field goal 80 seconds before halftime, giving the Sun Devils a 17-7 lead.

Paulk’s second scoring run came 43 seconds into the fourth period, giving the Sun Devils a 24-7 lead. Farlow sped down the sideline for his touchdown with 7:26 remaining. Mitchell scored with 6:01 left.